Twitter permanently bans Alex Jones, Infowars

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FILE – In this April 19, 2017, file photo, Alex Jones, a right-wing radio host and conspiracy theorist, arrives at the courthouse in Austin, Texas. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Spotify and other sites are finding themselves in a role they never wanted, as gatekeepers of discourse on their platforms, deciding what should and shouldn’t be allowed and often angering almost everyone in the process. The latest point of contention is Jones, who has suddenly found himself banned from most major platforms after years of being allowed to use them/. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP, File)

After being the last of the major social media companies to take action against Alex Jones, Twitter said it has now permanently banned the far-right conspiracy theorist and his website, Infowars.

“Today, we permanently suspended @realalexjones and @infowars from Twitter and Periscope,” the company said on its Twitter safety account Thursday. “We took this action based on new reports of Tweets and videos posted yesterday that violate our abusive behavior policy, in addition to the accounts’ past violations.”

The San Francisco company acknowledged it was unusual for it to talk publicly about individual accounts. “As we continue to increase transparency around our rules and enforcement actions, we wanted to be open about this action given the broad interest in this case,” the company tweeted.

A company spokeswoman would not provide further comment.

Twitter’s action comes a day after its CEO, Jack Dorsey, testified before two congressional committees on Capitol Hill for the first time. Lawmakers grilled Dorsey on everything from foreign interference in U.S. elections to accusations of bias against conservatives. Dorsey, who denied that Twitter is biased against Republicans, told legislators that the “health of conversations” on Twitter is one of his priorities.

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Twitter would not confirm to this news organization which tweets and videos by Jones and Infowars violated Twitter’s terms of service. However, other reports say a video of Jones harassing a CNN journalist in Washington on Wednesday may have been the last straw. Jones also reportedly tried to confront Dorsey after the Twitter CEO’s Congressional testimony Wednesday.

Just a month ago, Dorsey defended allowing Jones to remain on Twitter, saying the media personality — who is most famous for his insistence that the 2012 mass school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, was a hoax — had not violated the company’s terms of service even though Apple, Facebook and YouTube had deemed him to be in violation of theirs. A week later, Twitter suspended Jones and Infowars over posts containing violent threats, including against the media — and now it’s permanent.

Jones joins other controversial figures who have been banned by Twitter, including Roger Stone, the Republican consultant and strategist; former Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos; and white supremacist Richard Spencer. Spencer appears to be back on Twitter, although his account is no longer verified with a blue checkmark. A Twitter spokeswoman said Yiannopoulos is permanently banned, but he appears to be back on the platform as well. Stone’s account remains suspended.